Admissions in Bala Mandir

I have been asked many times as to how a child in need gets admitted into Bala Mandir.  There are several instances where people call up regarding a child on the street begging, or they know of a widowed or deserted or destitute woman. There are cases of  their housemaid’s children  who need to be admitted, or their driver who has lost his wife and cannot bring up his children alone. People who enquire also want  to know if they can directly bring the children and leave them in Bala Mandir. However, admission of children is not so easy –there are regular procedures that have to be followed.

Bala Mandir is like many other Homes, a recognised Child Care Institution (CCI) under the Juvenile Justice Act (JJ Act) (Care and Protection of Children ) 2015. All children are admitted only by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) after due enquiry. The Child Welfare Committee is an autonomous institution in India formed under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 to handle and resolve complaints relating to children who are either abandoned, orphaned, voluntarily given away by parents, or lost, and who are therefore in need of not only protection but also care, to help them grow and develop into responsible human beings.

Every district in Tamil Nadu has a Child Welfare Committee comprising of five members – Chairperson and four other members of whom at least one is a woman. A child in need of care and protection is brought before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) by its own parent/parents/guardian, by the Police, or by the organisation, Childline or even  by the general public and in some cases the child  comes on its own. After initial enquiry, it is decided by CWC to admit the child into a suitable ‘Home’ depending on its age, sex or state of mental development. An initial assessment and evaluation is undertaken to ensure that the child is truly in a vulnerable position and needs institutional care and protection.

Children’s  homes across the country are those run by the Government or Non-Government Organisations (NGOs like Bala Mandir), recognised by the Government and categorised according to the age and sex of the child as permitted to admit.  However, it is to be noted that from its inception in 1949, admissions of children both boys and girls into Bala Mandir are below the age of 6 years. Many homes are run exclusively for girls or boys. 

Very few institutions are run for both boys and girls or admit children only below 6 years like Bala Mandir does.